Phule Me Twice: Twice the Phule, Double the Trouble

Phule's Company #4

by Robert Lynn Asprin, Peter J. Heck

From a New York Times bestseller, a commander of a legion of misfits takes control of an alien planet in this sci-fi comedy.   You can’t mistake just anyone for a Phule. When the planet Zenobia is invaded, Captain Willard Phule is made their military advisor. The first priority for Phule’s staying out from underfoot of the peaceful, dinosaur-like Zenobians . . . But, unbeknownst to the Zenobians, they’re getting two Phules for the price of one. A robot double of Phule appears out of nowhere. And only the real Phule knows who the real Phule is . . .   Praise for the Phule’s Company   “A winning story . . . part science fiction, part spoof, part heart-warmer.” —Publishers Weekly   “Madcap . . . a welcome sendup of military sf.” —Booklist   “Light without being frivolous, and displays Asprin’s considerable expertise about fencing and things military, especially leadership.” —Chicago Sun-Times “Reminiscent of ‘M*A*S*H.’” —Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine

Genres: Science Fiction, Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Comedy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Audiobook

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2000

About the author

Robert (Lynn) Asprin was born in 1946. While he wrote some stand alone novels such as The Cold Cash War, Tambu, and The Bug Wars and also the Duncan & Mallory Illustrated stories, Bob is best known for his series fantasy, such as the Myth Adventures of Aahz and Skeeve, the Phule's Company novels, and the Time Scout novels written with Linda Evans. He also edited the groundbreaking Thieves' World anthology series with Lynn Abbey. Other collaborations include License Invoked (set in the French Quarter of New Orleans) and several Myth Adventures novels, all written with Jody Lynn Nye.

Bob's final solo work was a contemporary fantasy series called Dragons, again set in New Orleans.

Bob passed away suddenly on May 22, 2008. He is survived by his daughter and son, his mother and his sister.

Reviews

[Al "Tank" · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Phulishness from the warped minds of Robert Asprin and Peter Heck. The usual cast of characters are given the task of finding an invisible "enemy" on the Zenobian home world. As usual, Gen. Blitzkrieg is out to destroy our intrepid hero while Col. Battleaxe is trying to defend him and his company of Legionary misfits.

The story is up to the standards of the first two books and thoroughly enjoyable. Of course, there's a plot twist near the end which took me by surprise. A fun read!

[Tony Hinde · Rating 2 out of 5]

I suspect this was ghost-written.

[Ken Finlay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had not intended to continue with the series but I found myself away from home and "Phule Me Twice" was to hand.
It's more of the same as Willard Phule/Captain Jester battles seemingly impossible odds only to come out on top.
The fact that there are two Phules involved for a period adds to the general air of confusion.
The planet Zenobia (already featured in the series) suspects that it is being invaded but is rather short on evidence. The Omega Mob are promptly dispatched to determine what the hell is happening.
Meanwhile, back at Legion HQ, General Blitzkrieg continues his one-man war against the Omega Mob - this time he's convinced that's he has finally outsmarted them. And, for a time, it appears that he has ...
All is well at the Fat Chance Casino until they find themselves suddenly rudderless and one Phule down.
You need to read this series in order or it will make little or no sense.
I got a couple of chuckles out of it, particularly in relation to the Church of the New Revelation, popularly known as the Church of the King. It turns out that the Zenobians are less than impressed, they've got their own 'L'Viz!
3 Stars.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy these books. They are a lot of fun. I mean they're goofy. At one point Phule has to call customer service of the robot company and doesn't get any satisfaction, so he just buys the company and fires everybody in the Complaint Department. I mean if that's not the fantasy everybody has I don't know what it is. This book is just goofy fun with it on the nose jokes. Characters like Major Botchum, so we know we're going straight for camp. It's just a fun read it's entertaining and silly. It's a space adventure without the typical aliens everywhere it's just how you would deal with situations if you had a lot of money and can buy whatever you want and yet you're still a decent person who cares about those under his command. I'll read the last two in the series because they're entertaining.

[Phoebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Captain Willard Phule and his company of Legionary misfits are sent to the Zenobian home world to investigate a race of mysterious beings who have been detected surveilling the Zenobians, but who cannot be detected themselves. Of course, Gen. Blitzkrieg does his best to sabotage the mission by placing the obnoxious, incompetent Major Botchup in command. Meanwhile, people are trying to kidnap Captain Phule from his casino on Lorelai, unaware that he left a robot double there in his place.

This book, like the rest of the series, was a lot of goofy, pun-filled brain-candy. I’m glad I found these audiobooks from my local library because I like the series, but I don’t like it enough to spend money on the ebooks.

[Freyja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another pun-filled adventure with the general still trying to sabotage Phule on his next assignment. Meanwhile, someone is trying to kidnap him from his casino on Lorelai, not realizing his robot double is there. Meanwhile on Zenobia, Phule is relieved of command by Blitzkrieg, placing Major Botchup and his Lieutenant Snipe in command. It soon proves out how appropriate their Legion names are when things get chaotic. And yes, the Omega Company is not the author of all the chaos.

[Dennis Keithly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad I Stuck With It

This is a book I very nearly gave up on after the first few chapters. It seemed like just more of the same from the previous books in the series. That was then replaced by a story about an overbearing authority figure that the main characters need to subvert. However, I stuck with it, and I was pleased with the final result. Aspirin and Heck break their formula some to give readers a new style of Phule adventure. I’m glad I stuck with it.

[Peter Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

A enjoyable book. Light hearted with some dated terminology and a book that shows its age, but the humour is still just as relevant and interesting as when it was first written. I recommend this bookmand the rest of the series - just make sure you read them in order because they feed from one to the other and then they will double back and remind you of other incidents that took place early.
All fun and games, so sit back and enjoy.

[Joseph D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 4 of Phule Company. Oh boy, this has a lot going on. The entire book is provided after problem, but not to worry our mega rich captain is on the case. Another great example of a classic that will keep the pages turning. If you enjoyed MASH back in the day, you’d love this series. Overall, a wonderful military style book that could as easily mirror all of the shows about military incompetence out there. I highly recommend this series. ​

Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com

[Mark Isaak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phule's company gets assigned to help the Zenobians combat an invisible potential enemy; meanwhile, General Blitzkrieg continues his attempts to discredit Phule, this time by replacing him. The plot works well, with various and sundry threats coming at the protagonists, to be resolved in the last couple of chapters. The book probably works as a stand-alone, but it feels like a sequel to _A Phule and His Money_, in which some of the elements that are key to this book's plot are set up.

[Bernard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Descent book. The parts were all in play. The characters were firing on all cylinders. The wacky robot finally delivered some entertainment. The general was a jerk, as usual.

While not brilliant, it was interesting. The major running around adding his vast knowledge helped the book move along...

A fun read.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I like Captain Phule and the concepts of the Omega Company but this one took me a bit to get through and I wasn't really enjoying it. So it's goodbye to this series and on to something else. I wish that Asprin had been the one ultimately writing this series as he was much better at it. 3/5 stars.

[Nibrock · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, if some what confusing story. When everything that can go wrong does, but ends up for the good of all - that's the plot. Lots of character point of view switches. A few loose ends. A bunch of very ridiculous puns/jokes/situations.

[James Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the series this was probably my least favorite, but it could have been just me at the time. My mind did have some trouble keeping up and focusing on the story, but it was still a decent read. I like the series.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series is kind of losing its sparkle, the main cast is basically becoming to immune to any plot situations and are infallible geniuses that do everything perfect and everyone loves them for it. Going to finish the series but I hope the last few books improve

[One · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the last book I will read from this series. I almost DNF it. The first half nothing happened and the second was stalling so bad, and had so little action (if you read the last fifty pages you’ll get everything. My patience is gone and the humor is worse. One and a half stars for me.

[Michael Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

More fun and games as the cons out-con the cons.

[Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical for this series: stupidity is a major story driver and the ending is insanely convenient. Still, the book was fun. I don't regret reading it but will likely never read it again.

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 3 out of 5]

We meet a new alien race in this book, and the technology continues to be laughable. It's 1990's tech in space, almost no new ideas at all. But the characters are fun and these are easy reads.

[Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was dreary and I struggled to finish it, the last few chapters had me laughing.

[Justin Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of interesting ideas in this one, but it never quite comes together the way you want it to.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a fun book, enjoyed the series

[Carol McCarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just fun reading.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a good time. The way the series is set up, it is almost like one long continuous story with comic episodes that just happen to be book-length. Asprin knew his funny stuff!

[Michael Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The series continues to delivery fun, wit, and just solid story telling. 5 stars but I do admit this one has was not quite as good as the rest. Still very well done and time well spent.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suitably silly, but a volume that I put down for several moths between start and finish.

[IMHO · Rating 4 out of 5]

RECOMMENDED

[Kasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably more a three but I just have a soft spot for this series! Also possibly my fave so far.

[Freyavenlyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth part in the Phule's Company series was quite a funny read. there were some parts, i really laughed out loud. the jokes weren't really new, but the in the context they were delivered, they took my somewhat by surprise.
as for the plot, phule has to uproot his company again. this time to help the zenobians, the race, phule himself discovered in the first part.
the one thing, i thought wasn't as good, was, that some things of the story weren't explained quite that well. I'm not sure, if the 5th part, is going to start up were we left of, if asprin and heck hold true, then i think it will, but - Caution: spoilers ahead -
when phule went with beeker to the zenobian government, they were a little stalled in their talks. sure, it could be because of the pretty new alliance between their races, but phule thought, that they were holding back. at the end of the book, they haven't gotten back to that.
another thing that irked me, was that the ending seemed kinda rushed. it wasn't new. all of the phule's company books, have kinda lucky endings (so far). but often the conclusion of the plot was rather more luck than brains. after four books, it's kinda boring, to know, that all will be well on the end.
that shouldn't read as bad as it sounds. the fourth part plot was more spread out than the others. because - Caution: spoilers ahead -
when phule is gone from the encampment of this troops, and later on taken prisoner of the "hidden ones", you see how his people handle his absence and later, his strange behavior.

all in all, i liked it more, than the last one, and with this i'll start the next one.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books just keep getting better and better as the Omega Mob continues to get into situations that seem to have no solution, yet somehow they come out on top. Although Asprin described in the third book in broad terms how Android Phule was programmed, it was not until the conversation between the Rev and Android Phule that you get a graphic demonstration. Plus the robot camouflage in this book. What a concept! You could have bowled me over when Android Phule did not see Street in his camo hat. I also loved the introduction of different ideas as to the possible identification of The Hidden Ones. I never considered that there might be aliens whose range of sight and hearing might differ so radically from humans that one could neither hear nor see the other, which is just one idea among many Sushi came up with. Something to think about. And then there was the juxtaposition of the problem encountered on Landoor with dozens of King lookalikes which turns into an asset and a solution to a Major problem on Zenobia. Asprin's mind works in strange and mysterious ways. I thank him for using it to supply his readers with amusement and fun.